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No More Smiling
No More Smiling is a short film written, directed, filmed, scored and edited by Scott Pincus. It serves as the midterm project for his Media Arts II film class, the third film he made for college, and the first installment in the No More Smiling series. The film stars Gabe Sagherian, Austin Brinser and Michael Behrenshauser, with various cast members making cameos all throughout. Set in the distant future, happiness has been forbidden internationally. A group called the Anti-Happiness Commission upholds this ban. The film follows officer Adrian Romeli as he sets off on a mission unlike any he's faced before. Scott started working on the project in January 2018, when the teaching assistant for his film class had students start pre-production early in the semester. Scott developed the film's concept in early February, while the script was completed shortly after. A promo trailer for the film was released on February 27, with filming taking place in early March. The film was released on March 14, 2018. A sequel, No More Smiling II: Redemption, was released on May 5, 2018. Gabe, Austin and Michael return to star in the film. Plot As explained by a radio host (Jack Morris), happiness has been forbidden across the world, as people believe it makes others feel disadvantaged. The Anti-Happiness Commission seeks to uphold this ban, and keep society secure. Those who don't conform to society's ways live out in the woods. A member of the commission, officer Adrian Romeli (Gabe Sagherian), drives to a facility to meet with his superior, Andrew Butler (Michael Behrenshauser). Butler interrogates Romeli over suspicions that he's no longer loyal to the commission. Romeli proves his loyalty by stating his duty and recognizing the way society functions now. As Romeli speaks, we see a pedestrian (Michael Robinson) smile, and subsequently get taken down by an officer (Luke Johnson). We then see a flashback of Romeli pursuing two citizens through a neighborhood and into the woods, after hearing them laugh. Romeli stuns one of the citizens with a laser gun, and while apprehending him is confronted by the other citizen - an old friend of his, Damien (Austin Brinser). Damien berates Romeli for his life choices before a fight breaks out. Romeli swiftly gains the upper hand in the fight, but is ultimately struck down by Damien, who runs off. Butler continues interrogating Romeli, making certain that he believes what he's saying. Butler asks Romeli to tell him what happened on his last mission. Romeli reminisces upon following Damien to a desolate playground. Damien tries pressuring Romeli to embrace happiness, but Romeli holds him at gunpoint and holds true to his duty. We cut back and forth between the mission, and Butler interrogating Romeli about the truth behind his mission. Damien asks Romeli what happened to him that drove him to this point. Eventually, Romeli realizes Damien's ways are just; he approaches him, drops his weapon and tells him to leave. Romeli tells Butler that he didn't smile on his mission, and Butler concludes the interrogation. As Butler walks off, Romeli reminisces upon Damien walking away from the playground, and smiles. Cast *Gabe Sagherian as Adrian Romeli, the film's main character, who is an officer in the Anti-Happiness Commission. Adrian serves as an antihero, and takes on a mission that brings him face-to-face with a person from his past. *Austin Brinser as Damien, an old and former friend of Romeli, who believes in happiness and has been cast out to live in the woods. *Michael Behrenshauser as Andrew Butler, a major antagonist. Butler is Romeli's superior and a commander in the Anti-Happiness Commission, who interrogates Romeli throughout the film. Michael Behrenshauser also appears as a masked civilian who is chased by Romeli. Jack Morris, who voices Cole in Scott's Ninjago series, has an extended vocal cameo as a radio host. Michael Robinson cameos as a smiling pedestrian, and Luke Johnson cameos as an Anti-Happiness officer. Kyle Carozzi and Jacob Huber both cameo as TV watchers, with Kyle also having a vocal cameo as a radio caller towards the start of the film. Austin Brinser has a cameo as the door guard who lets in Romeli. Sean Larkin cameos alongside Gabe Sagherian in a promo ad on TV; he is not credited due to the obscurity of his role. Production Pre-Production The film began production in January 2018, when Scott's TA (teaching assistant) began talking about the project during their second class. The project follows the prompt of "how I see the world". The plan was for the film majors to work on their projects over the span of six weeks, to create a more "realistic" and fleshed out production schedule. Scott and many other students vocally disproved of this strategy, knowing it would be more practical to shoot the short film in a smaller timeframe rather than a month and a half. Scott contemplated the film's plot for two weeks, before developing the official concept on February 2. He began writing the script that day, and completed it that week. It underwent revisions up until filming started. An official trailer/promo for the film was filmed on February 25 and released on February 27. Normally, Scott doesn't release trailers for his short films, although Scott's TA required that they submit "dailies" - or some raw footage - that students recorded by February 28, so Scott opted to make a trailer. With the trailer's release came the announcement of the film, as well as its release date of March 14. Gabe Sagherian and Sean Larkin appeared in the trailer, while Austin Brinser was also present for filming. Due to Scott's actors having different spring breaks, as well as a nor'easter hitting the area, the cast for the film remained unconfirmed until shortly before filming started. Dan Brusilovsky and Russell Parkinson were asked to appear in the film, but were unable to due to scheduling conflicts. On March 7, Gabe Sagherian and Michael Behrenshauser were officially cast in the film, and Austin Brinser joined the cast on March 8. On March 12, Jack Morris, who voices Cole in Scott's Ninjago series, was confirmed to make a vocal cameo in the film. Filming and Release Filming officially began in Philadelphia on March 2, 2018, with Michael Robinson, Kyle Carozzi and Jacob Huber shooting cameos for the film. Luke Johnson, an acting major who goes to college with Scott, filmed a cameo as well; this was also his first project with Scott. Major filming began indoors the night of March 9, with Gabe Sagherian, Michael Behrenshauser and Austin Brinser present. Filming continued and wrapped the next day, with Gabe, Austin and Michael present once again. Editing and scoring for the film commenced on March 10, and wrapped on March 14, the day of its release. Music : See Media Arts II Soundtracks As he did with his previous college film projects, Thrill of the Hunt and The Downingtown Gates of Hell, Scott composed an original score for the film, which features two major themes/leitmotifs for Adrian Romeli and Damien. Unlike the previous projects, however, Scott had the option of using third party/copyrighted music. He opted not to in favor of making his project as original as possible. Scoring for the film began on March 10, and wrapped on March 13. Several tracks were rescored multiple times before the final version was achieved. Reception The film has garnered a positive reception, both on YouTube and through Scott's film class. On YouTube, the film has a 93% reception, with fourteen likes and one dislike. It gained a hundred views within four days of its release. Scott received his grade for the film on April 2, and was given a 9/10, or a 90%. On his rubric, Scott's TA praised the film for its strong story/unique point of view, as well as some of the visuals and the cross-cutting between the interrogation and fight scenes. On the other hand, she critiqued some of the camera quality, as well as the abundance of music. In comparison to Scott's previous college film projects, Thrill of the Hunt and The Downingtown Gates of Hell, this is his highest score for a project yet. A screening took place during Scott's film class on March 14, the day the film was released. Reactions in the class were positive, with praise going towards the pacing, music, and the building of the story world. Students critiqued several small aspects of the film which could be improved. Scott's teaching assistant enjoyed the film, and recommended that a different location should've been used for the indoor scenes due to its cluttered/tight space. Sequel Due to the film's positive reception and Scott's confidence in the story's direction, a sequel - titled No More Smiling II: Redemption - was released on May 5, 2018. Gabe Sagherian, Austin Brinser and Michael Behrenshauser return to star in the film. Trivia *The shockgun was originally called a "shockblaster" in the script; it was changed to "shockgun" at the recommendation of the main cast. *Similarly to The Best of West, the film's cast consists of more cameos than main actors; it has three main actors and six actors who cameo. *The film marks the acting debut of Luke Johnson in Scott's films. *Footage from the film's trailer is briefly shown in the film as a "propaganda promo", when two teenagers are watching TV in a dazed state. *This is Jack Morris's first acting role outside Scott's Ninjago series, in which he's voiced the main protagonist, Cole Hence. In this film, he has an extended vocal cameo as a radio talk show host. **Jack is also the second Ninjago voice actor to appear in a film outside the series - the first being Douglas Garthwaite, who voiced Kaine West in the Bread's Crumbs series. *Alex Fanelli, Chris Lombardo, Dan Brusilovsky and Russell Parkinson were all approached to appear in the film in some capacity, though they're unable to participate in the project due to scheduling conflicts. **Scott considered Alex Fanelli and Austin Brinser for the roles of Damien and Andrew Butler, respectively. Due to Alex being unavailable during the production, he wasn't cast in the film, so Austin took his place as Damien, while Michael Behrenshauser was cast as Butler. *This is Scott's third college film project, following Thrill of the Hunt and The Downingtown Gates of Hell. *This was one of Scott's few short films (outside of The Creepy Guy in the Woods series) that received a trailer prior to its release, following Dr. Troubleshoot and Isarus. Scott usually releases short films without posting a trailer to keep them a surprise. Category:Short Films Category:No More Smiling Category:2018 Storyline Category:School Projects Category:College Projects